Muscle weighs more than fat - Chat Forum

Re: Muscle weighs more than fat

joemarshall — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:30:45 +0000

Put simply muscle is denser than fat so for the same volume, it will weigh more. Weight is a poor indicator of fitness for active people generally as we normally carry more muscle than the inactive which is why the BMI system is useless.

Isn't it the case that whilst BMI is innaccurate for extremely muscley people (like weightlifters or high level professional rugby players and other professional athletes), for pretty much anyone else, it is a pretty good indicator. Although having said that, the 'BMI is innacurate' thing seems like a great excuse for doing a little bit of exercise, then eating loads of pies to compensate, and saying 'I'm not fat, I'm an athlete', so maybe I should shut up!

Re: Muscle weighs more than fat

mountaincarrot — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:30:37 +0000

Can you voluntarily sink, and lie without moving on the bottom of a swimming pool by just exhaling? My unscientific notion always maintained that was a reliable guide to body fat ratio, but it's untested on many (except I know I can)..

Re: Muscle weighs more than fat

TheSouthernYeti — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:28:29 +0000

IanMunro - almost but she was eating almost 3 times as much as she thought.

Slow metabolism v's Greedy pig

Re: Muscle weighs more than fat

IanMunro — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:22:56 +0000

Reminds me of the woman on that BBC program "10 Things You Need to Know About Losing Weight" - brilliant stuff.

Was she the one that took that doubly-labeled water then demonstrated that even though she carefully kept a food diary she was eating twice as much as she thought? :D

Re: Muscle weighs more than fat

chickadee — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:15:29 +0000

I am a pretty large bloke widthwise.

Diiiiir-ty!

Re: Muscle weighs more than fat

mogrim — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:59:40 +0000

FunkyDunc - Member
Does your weight even matter?

It does if you have to drag it up a hill - there's a reason pro-cyclists (and all pro endurance athletes) are skinny, and not built like Arnie in his glory days.

Re: Muscle weighs more than fat

Jamie — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:51:45 +0000

1500 cals a day sounds low

It is low.

Re: Muscle weighs more than fat

TheSouthernYeti — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:51:15 +0000

Waist to hip ratio is a pretty good guide as to how big you are.

Re: Muscle weighs more than fat

joolsburger — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:50:00 +0000

Im lifing a lot more and doing lots more reps too, so yes defintely getting considerably stronger, was pressing 50 kilos + the bar at lunchtime which is loads more than when I started although not as much as I'd like. I'm 16.5 stone now and was 18.5 :oops: in October.

I want to get to 14.5 but I think 15.5 would be OK as I am a pretty large bloke widthwise.

Also worth noting I sit on my arse all day in an ofice so the gym and bike is pretty much it.

Re: Muscle weighs more than fat

HTTP404 — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:47:39 +0000

I'm only eating around 1500 cals a day at the moment

Reminds me of the woman on that BBC program "10 Things You Need to Know About Losing Weight" - brilliant stuff.

It's available on iPlayer (1 day left to watch)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ksh7c